Collaboration devices

ABSTRACT

Collaboration devices are disclosed. An example table-top collaboration device, including a housing; a sensor to obtain audio data, image data, or video data; a display including a first portion and a second portion, the first portion viewable from a first side of the device and the second portion viewable from a second side of the device; and a processor to facilitate a collaboration session between participants, the processor to use the audio data, the image data, or the video data during the collaboration session.

BACKGROUND

Computers may be used in collaborative work environments duringmeetings. For example, computers can be used during a meeting for videoconferencing in which video and audio data is shared between computers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example table-top collaborationdevice in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an example conferencer of theexample table-top collaboration device of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate different views of an example table-topcollaboration device that can be used to implement the table-topcollaboration device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 illustrates the example table-top collaboration device of FIG. 3being used by an individual.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example camera of the example table-topcollaboration device of FIG. 3 in an example video-conferencing mode.

FIG. 7 illustrates the example camera of the example table-topcollaboration device of FIG. 3 in an example document-digitizing mode.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example table-top collaboration device having atriangular frustum shape that can be used to implement the exampletable-top collaboration device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example table-top collaboration device having aconical frustum shape that can be used to implement the exampletable-top collaboration device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example table-top collaboration device having asquare frustum shape that can be used to implement the example table-topcollaboration device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example table-top collaboration device having aspherical cap shape that can be used to implement the example table-topcollaboration device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 illustrates another example table-top collaboration devicehaving a conical frustum shape that can be used to implement the exampletable-top collaboration device of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 13 and 14 are flowcharts representative of machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example conferencerof FIG. 2.

FIG. 15 is a processor platform to execute the instructions of FIGS. 13and 14 to implement the conferencer of FIG. 2.

The figures are not to scale. Wherever possible, the same referencenumbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying writtendescription to refer to the same or like parts. While the drawingsillustrate examples of collaboration devices, other examples may beemployed to implement the examples disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The examples disclosed herein relate to collaboration devices thatfacilitate collaboration sessions. In some examples, the collaborationdevices are implemented as conference assistant panels having exampleimage, visual and/or audio capabilities to moderate collaborationsessions (e.g., a meeting) and/or otherwise assist participants duringcollaboration sessions. In some examples, the image, visual and/or audiocapabilities enable the collaboration devices to be responsive tocommands (e.g., voice commands) and/or provide visual feedback and/orauditory feedback during meetings or otherwise.

The collaboration sessions may include individuals using the examplecollaboration devices in different locations and/or the same location.In examples in which the collaboration devices are used during anegotiation taking place in a single room, in some examples, a firstpair of negotiators may sit across a table from one another using afirst collaboration device and a second pair of negotiators may sitacross the table from one another using a second collaboration device,where the negotiators sitting on the same side of the table do not sharethe same collaboration device. In other words, negotiators on a firstteam (e.g., working for a first company) may use different collaborationdevices when conducting negotiations with negotiators from a second team(e.g., working for a second company). Of course, collaboration devicesin accordance with the teachings of this disclosure may be used in anysuitable way.

The imaging capabilities may include a camera(s). The visual capacitiesmay include a display(s) and/or a projector(s). The audio capabilitiesmay include a speaker(s) and/or an audio sensor(s) (e.g., microphones).In some examples, the displays are implemented as touch screens and/orgesture controlled screens to enable commands to be provided to thecollaboration devices. In some examples, the projectors enable images(e.g., documents) to be projected onto a surface such as, for example, asurface in front of the collaboration device. In some examples, thecameras are structured for video conferencing and/or to enable documentsto be digitized and thereafter sharable. In some examples, the displaysare embedded into the collaboration devices.

In operation and when the collaboration device is implemented as atabletop device, the example collaboration device may be placed and/orinstalled on a surface (e.g., a conference table) during a meeting toenable the sharing of data and/or to enable the meeting to bedocumented. In some examples, the collaboration devices are standalonedevices and/or dedicated conference assistant panels. In some examples,the collaboration devices are chained together. Regardless of theconfiguration of the example collaboration devices, the examplecollaboration devices enable users to access and/or share data betweencollaboration devices, with a remote facility (e.g., a remote datastorage facility) and/or between an example collaboration device andother devices. In some examples, the other devices include electronicwhite boards within the conference room. In some examples, the otherdevices include devices (e.g., laptops, personal computers, etc.) withinand/or outside the conference room.

In some examples, the example collaboration devices document themeetings (e.g., a collaboration session) by recording the meeting and/orby processing audio data accessed from the meeting and/or data sharedduring the meeting. In some examples, processing the audio data includesdifferentiating between first audio data associated with a firstindividual speaking (e.g., a first speaker) and second audio dataassociated with a second individual speaking. In some examples, theprocessing includes associating the first audio data with the firstspeaker and associating the second audio data with the second speaker byassigning a first identifier to the first audio data and assigning asecond identifier to the second audio data.

In some examples, processing the audio data includes parsing the audiodata for keywords and/or commands. In examples in which keywords and/orcommands are identified, the example collaboration devices may cause theidentified keyword and/or phrase (e.g., a command) to be acted on. Putanother way, in some examples, the collaboration devices are responsiveto voice commands and/or are voice activated. While the keywords and/orcommands may relate to any action, when the keyword and/or phraserelates to generating a calendar event for one of the participants ofthe meeting, the example collaboration device may generate a calendarevent for the identified participant. Other examples of keywords and/orcommands that may be identified include saving an audio clip reminderassociated with the keyword and/or phrase, creating a reminder for aparticipant(s) of the meeting, creating an email to be sent toparticipants of the meeting and/or another individual, creating asummary of the meeting and/or a portion of the meeting, etc. In someexamples, the reminder, the email and/or the summary is provided to theparticipants of the meeting, a participant(s) of the meeting and/oranother individual.

As another example, keywords and/or commands may relate to an actionthat causes a document and/or a page of a document being referred toduring a negotiation to be displayed. For example, during a negotiationtaking place between negotiators and in response to identifying akeyword and/or command associated with the display of a document, asection of a document, a paragraph number, a paragraph header, a pagenumber, etc., in some examples, the collaboration devices access thedata of the corresponding document, the section of the document, theparagraph number, the paragraph header, the page number, etc. and causethe data to be displayed to the negotiators. In this example, the datacan be displayed to the negotiators in any suitable way using theexample collaboration devices and/or the associated visual capabilities.For example, the collaboration devices can automatically select and/oraccess the data for display and cause the data to be displayed using thedisplay(s) and/or the projector(s) of the example collaboration devices.

In some examples, processing the audio data includes performing a speechto text conversion of the conversation. In some such examples, the textdata can be parsed and/or used to generate notes for the meeting and/ora summary for the meeting. In some examples, processing the audio dataincludes identifying a language(s) spoken during the meeting andassociating the respective portions of the audio data with the differentlanguages by assigning a first identifier to the portion associated witha first language and by assigning a second identifier to the portionassociated with a second language.

To enable participants of the meeting speaking in different languages tocommunicate, in some examples, the example collaboration devicecommunicates to the different speakers in the language that they arespeaking. For example, the collaboration devices can display text in afirst language (e.g., English) via a first display to a firstparticipant speaking in the first language and can display text in asecond language (e.g., Chinese) via a second display to a secondparticipant speaking in the second language. In some examples, the firstand second displays are implemented in the same collaboration devicethat are visible from different sides of the collaboration device. Insome examples, the first and second displays are implemented indifferent devices.

To enable displays of the example collaboration devices to accommodateany number of participants, in some examples, the collaboration devicesidentify the number of participants in the meeting and designate aportion of the respective displays for each participant or differentgroups of participants. For example, when two participants are using thecollaboration device, a first window may be generated to display data tothe first participant and a second window may be generated to displaydata to the second participant. In examples in which the collaborationdevices have a frustum shape, the display may be divided into a firstdisplay portion and a second display portion such that first data isdisplayed to the first participant at the first display portion andsecond data is displayed to the second participant at the second displayportion.

To control access to the example collaboration devices, in someexamples, the collaboration devices implement authentication processesto control access (e.g., enable access, deny access) to data stored onthe collaboration devices and/or that is otherwise accessible (e.g.,data stored on a remote database, network, etc.). In examples in whichthe authenticating processes includes using biometric data, in someexamples, the collaboration devices collect the biometric data from theuser via an example camera of the collaboration device and compare thebiometric data to reference data for authenticating. In other examples,other authentication processes may be used to enable a user to beauthenticated.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example table-top collaboration device 102 thatcan be used during a collaboration session to exchange messages and/ordata (e.g., documents). The messages exchanged may include text-basedmessages, video messages and/or audio messages. In the illustratedexample, the collaboration device 102 includes an example display 104,an example speaker 106, an example camera 108, an example projector 110,an example sensor 112, an example conferencer 114, an example interface116 and an example database 117.

The display 104 may be implemented by a graphical user interface (GUI),a touch screen and/or a gesture controlled screen. For example, thedisplay 104 may be implemented as an organic light-emitting diode (OLED)display (e.g., a touch high-resolution flex OLED display) or anelectronic ink (E-ink) display. In some examples, the display 104enables data to be displayed and/or commands to be received. In examplesin which the collaboration device 102 is implemented as a dedicatedcollaboration device, in some examples, messages and/or menus can bedisplayed to users of the collaboration device 102 via the display 104without otherwise visually disrupting the meeting (e.g., having a promptbe seen on an electronic whiteboard).

In some examples, the display 104 displays data including iconsidentifying individuals participating in the collaboration session, alive feed of the conversation taking place during the collaborationsession and/or an agenda of the collaboration session including thecurrent topic being discussed. However, the display 104 can display anytype of data. In some examples, the text of the live feed is separatedsuch that text associated with a contributor (e.g., the person speaking)appears adjacent an icon identifying the contributor (e.g., theindividual that spoke the words, an image of the contributor).

In some examples, the data displayed includes a document(s) and/or agraphical control element(s). The graphical control elements may includea first icon associated with a “remember this” command, a second iconassociated with a “quick summary” command, a third icon associated witha “flag for comment” command and/or a fourth icon associated with a“reminder” command. While some example commands that are displayable bythe display 104 are mentioned, any other commands or icons may bedisplayed.

The speaker 106 enables the collaboration device 102 to emit audio. Forexample, the speaker 106 can emit audio corresponding to a meetingtaking place. In some examples, the speaker 106 is implemented by twodriver speakers and a woofer speaker. The camera 108 facilitates videoconferencing and/or enables images to be captured. In some examples, theimages captured include an image of a document and/or of the user and/orusers of the collaboration device 102. Thus, the example camera 108enables documents to be scanned and/or obtained in real-time during acollaboration session and/or meeting.

To enable the camera 108 to capture an image of a document, in someexamples, an example actuator 118 may direct the camera 108 toward thesurface on which the collaboration device 102 is resting to enable animage of the document to be obtained. To enable the camera 108 tocapture video and/or image data of the participant in the meeting, insome examples, the actuator 118 may direct the camera 108 toward a faceon the individual.

The projector 110 may be implemented by a hand held projector(s) or apico projector(s). In some examples, the projector 110 enables documentsand/or videos to be projected onto a surface adjacent and/or near thecollaboration device 102 (e.g., within the same room as). In someexamples, the documents and/or videos projected are two and a halfdimensional. In some examples, the projector 110 enables a user tointeract with the projected image (e.g., a digital document) by signingand/or otherwise editing the document (e.g., active pen, scroll, etc.).To enable the projected image and/or video to be projected ontodifferent surfaces and/or to be orientated differently, in theillustrated example, an actuator 120 is included.

The sensor 112 may be implemented by a motion sensor, a microphone, aproximity sensor, a gestural sensor, a touch sensor, etc. In examples inwhich the sensor 112 is implemented by a microphone, the sensor 112enables audio data to be collected. In examples in which the sensor 112is implemented as a motion sensor and/or a proximity sensor, the sensor112 can be used to identify an individual joining the meeting (e.g., theindividual is moving toward the collaboration device 102) and/or thesensor 112 can be used to identify an individual leaving the meeting(e.g., the individual is moving away from the collaboration device 102).In examples in which the sensor 112 is implemented by a motion sensorand/or a proximity sensor, the sensor 112 can be used to identify adocument being moved toward the collaboration device 102 and/or towardthe camera 108 for digitizing. In some such examples, when the sensor112 identifies a document moving toward the collaboration device 102and/or toward the sensor 112 for digitizing, a trigger may be initiatedthat causes the camera 108 to obtain an image of the document.

In some examples in which a meeting (e.g., a collaboration session)taking place is between two people using the collaboration device 102 orin examples in which the meeting taking place is between two or morepeople using the collaboration device 102 and another device, theparticipants of the meeting may be speaking different languages. In somesuch examples, to enable the participants to be able to communicate withone another, the example conferencer 114 processes audio data accessedby the sensor 112 and determines the language or languages being spoken.

In examples in which the conferencer 114 determines that two languagesare being spoken, in some examples, the conferencer 114 translates thefirst language to the second language for the second participantspeaking the second language and the conferencer 114 translates thesecond language to the first language for the first participant speakingthe first language. In examples in which the conferencer 114 performs aspeech to text conversion on the audio data, in some examples, theconferencer 114 causes the display 104 to display the text of theconversation in the corresponding language for the respectiveparticipant to receive. For example, when the display 104 includes afirst display and a second display on different sides of thecollaboration device 102, in some examples, the conferencer 114 causesthe first display to display text in a first language (e.g., English) tothe first participant speaking the first language and causes the seconddisplay to display text in a second language (e.g., Chinese) to a secondparticipant speaking the second language. In other examples, the firstand second displays are implemented in different devices.

In some examples, the conferencer 114 generates audio data in thecorresponding language being spoken by the different participants andcauses the speaker 106 to play the audio for the respective participantto receive. For example, when the first participant is speaking a firstlanguage and the second participant is speaking a second language, insome examples, the conferencer 114 translates first audio from the firstparticipant from the first language to the second language for thesecond participant to hear. Similarly, in some examples, the conferencer114 translates second audio from the second participant from the secondlanguage to the first language for the first participant to hear. Insome examples, the conferencer 114 splices the audio from the secondparticipant with the translated audio from the first participant togenerate a recording of the conversation in the second language.Similarly, in some example, the conferencer 114 splices the audio fromthe first participant with the translated audio from the secondparticipant to generate a recording of the conversation in the firstlanguage.

In examples in which a single language or two or more languages arebeing spoken during the meeting, in some examples, the conferencer 114processes the audio data by performing a speech to text conversion ofthe conversation. To differentiate between the contributors of thedifferent portions of the conversation, in some examples, theconferencer 114 processes the audio data to identify first audio datafrom a first participant in the meeting and to identify second audiodata from a second participant in the meeting. In some examples, theconferencer 114 adds a first identifier to the first audio dataassociated with the first participant and adds a second identifier tothe second audio data associated with the second participant. In someexamples, the conferencer 114 generates display data including the textof the conversation to be displayed by the display 104. In someexamples, the display data separates the text of the conversation bycontributor and includes identifiers to distinguish between what portionof the conversation was said by what participant.

To identify key words and/or commands said during the meeting, in someexamples, the conferencer 114 parses the audio data (e.g., an audiofile) and/or the text data (e.g., a text file) for the keywords and/orphrases by comparing the audio data and/or the text data to referencekeywords and/or phrases in the database 117. Some keywords and/orphrases associated with identifying participants of the meeting mayinclude “let's take a minute to introduce everyone . . . ,” “the meetingparticipants are . . . ,” “Stacy,” etc. Some keywords and/or phrasesassociated with transitioning from one topic to the next may include, “Ithink we've spent enough time on this topic. Moving onto the next topic,. . . ” “And the scheduled topic is . . . ,” “Let's now discuss . . . ,”etc. Some action item keywords and/or phrases may include “flag that . .. ,” “let's revisit that . . . ,” “summarize that . . . ,” “providesummary of . . . ,” “create calendar event for . . . ,” “create reminderfor . . . ,” “generate email to provide meeting summary of . . . ,”“save audio clip of . . . ,” “provide notes on next topic . . . ,” etc.

In examples in which a keyword and/or a command is identified and thekeyword and/or phrase includes an action to be performed, in someexamples, the conferencer 114 causes the action to be performed. Forexample, when the command is associated with “prepare a summary,” insome examples, the conferencer 114 parses the text of the conversationand generates a summary that is stored in the database 117.Alternatively, in examples in which the command is associated with“generate notes for the second topic of the meeting,” the conferencer114 parses the text of the conversation and generates notes for thesecond topic of meeting that are stored in the database 117.

To enable the display 104 of the example collaboration device 102 toaccommodate any number of participants, in some examples, theconferencer 114 identifies the number of participants using thecollaboration device 102 and/or the position of the participantsrelative to the collaboration device 102 and generates the display data(e.g., the text of the conversation) to enable each participant or eachgroup of participants to have their own portion of the display 104. Putanother way, the display 104 may be divided into sub displays or windowssuch that the number of windows generated to emit tailored data isdynamically adjusted based on the number of participants or groups ofparticipants. In examples in which the display 104 has a circularcross-section and the conferencer 114 determines that two people areparticipating in the meeting, the conferencer 114 can generate firstdisplay data for display at a first portion and/or window of the display104 and second display data for display at a second portion and/orwindow of the display 104. Thus, in some such examples, a firstparticipant will be designated the first portion of the display 104 andthe second participant will be designated the second portion of thedisplay 104 where the first and second display portions are viewablefrom different sides of the collaboration device 102 (e.g., oppositesides of the collaboration device 102).

To control access to the example collaboration device 102, in someexamples, the conferencer 114 implements authentication processes tocontrol access (e.g., enable access, deny access) to data stored on thecollaboration device 102 and/or that is otherwise accessible (e.g., datastored on a remote database, network, etc.). In examples in which theauthenticating processes includes using biometric data, in someexamples, the collaboration device 102 collects the biometric data fromthe user via the camera 108 and the conferencer 114 compares thecollected data to reference data stored at the collaboration device 102to authenticate the user. In other examples, other authentication datamay be used to enable a user to be authenticated.

To enable the collaboration device 102 to communicate with and/or sharedata with an example external device 122 and/or to access an exampledatabase 124 remote to the collaboration device 102, in the illustratedexample, the collaboration device 102 includes the interface 116. Insome examples, the interface 116 includes wireless connectivitycapabilities to enable the external device 122 placed adjacent or on thecollaboration device 102 to connect to the collaboration device 102, toenable content of the external device 122 to be browsed and/or to enablethe exchange of data between the collaboration device 102 and theexternal device 122. In some examples, the interface 116 includesBluetooth® capabilities and/or near-field communication (NFC)capabilities.

The interface 116 enables the sharing and/or the communication of databetween the external device 122 and/or the database 124 in any suitableway including a wireless connection, a wired connection, etc. Forexample, the interface 116 enables data to be accessible and thereafterviewable at the display 104 of the collaboration device 102. In someexamples, the external device 122 is another collaboration device, anelectronic white board, a personal computer, a mobile device, etc. Insome examples, the database 124 is a cloud-computing environment. Insome examples, the interface 116 enables the collaboration device 102 toprovide commands to or to otherwise control the external device 122. Forexample, when the external device 122 is implemented as an electronicwhiteboard, the collaboration device 102 can control the data displayedvia the electronic whiteboard. To provide power to the examplecollaboration device 102, in this example, the collaboration device 102includes an example power supply unit 126. In some examples, the powersupply unit 126 includes wireless charging capabilities to enable otherdevices (e.g., mobile devices) placed adjacent or on the collaborationdevice 102 to be wirelessly charged.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example implementation of the example conferencer114 of FIG. 1. As shown in the example of FIG. 2, the exampleconferencer 114 includes an example display controller 202, an exampleaudio controller 204, an example camera controller 206, an exampleprojector controller 208, an example sensor controller 210, an examplelanguage identifier 212, an example translator 214, an example speech totext converter 216, an example participant identifier 218, an examplecomparator 220, an example creator 222, an example participant positionidentifier 224 and an example authenticator 226.

In some examples, the display controller 202 controls what data isdisplayed at the display 104 and/or how the data is displayed at thedisplay 104. For example, the display controller 202 generates displaydata including a first panel identifying meeting topics, a second panelidentifying meeting participants and/or participants having questions inqueue, a third panel including tabs (e.g., graphical control elements)that enable text of the conversation to be displayed in different ways(e.g., live feed, by person, by topic, etc.), a fourth panel including agraphical control element(s) and a fifth panel including details of theindividual logged into the collaboration device 102. In some examples,the display controller 202 causes the first, second, third and/or fourthpanels to be displayed at the display 104.

In some examples, the audio controller 204 controls the audio emittedfrom the speaker 106. In some examples, the camera controller 206controls the operation of the camera 108 and controls the actuation ofthe actuator 118 that changes the position of the camera 108 to obtainimage and/or video data of the individual using the collaboration device102 and/or a document presented to the collaboration device 102 fordigitizing. In some examples, the projector controller 208 controls whatdata is displayed by the projector 110 and/or how the data is displayed.In some examples, the projector controller 208 controls the actuation ofthe actuator 120 that changes where and/or how the image and/or videodata is projected via the projector 110 adjacent the collaborationdevice 102 and/or in a room in which the collaboration device 102 ispositioned.

In some examples, the sensor controller 210 controls the sensor 112. Forexample, when the sensor 112 is implemented as a microphone, the sensorcontroller 210 causes the sensor 112 to collect audio of the meetingand/or the conference taking place. To determine the language beingspoken during the meeting, the language identifier 212 processes theaudio data and compares the audio data to reference audio data stored atthe database 117 to determine what language or languages are beingspoken during the meeting and/or during the conversation.

In some examples, in response to the language identifier 212 identifyinga first language being spoken, the display controller 202 causes text tobe displayed at the display 104 in a first language and in response tothe language identifier 212 identifying a second language being spoken,the display controller 202 causes text to be displayed at the display104 in a second language. In some examples in which two languages arebeing spoken in the room in which the collaboration device 102 islocated, the display controller 202 causes a first portion (e.g., afirst window) of the display 104 to display a first language for thefirst participant speaking the first language and a second portion(e.g., a second window) of the display 104 to display a second languagefor the second participant speaking the second language.

In some examples, when the language identifier 212 identifies first andsecond languages being spoken, the translator 214 translates theconversation such that there is a first transcript of the conversationin the first language and a second transcript of the conversation in thesecond language. In some examples in which the translator 214 generatesfirst audio data of the first transcript and second audio data of thesecond transcript, the audio controller 204 causes the first audio dataand/or portions of the first audio data (e.g., the portions that thefirst participant did not say) to be played to the first participant viathe speaker 106 and the second audio data and/or portions of the secondaudio data (e.g., the portions that the second participant did not say)to be played to the second participant via the speaker 106.

To enable participants to hear portions of the conversation not said bythemselves and/or portions of the conversation said into a calibrationdevice other than the calibration device being used by the participant,in some examples, the participant identifier 218 processes the audiodata and differentiates between first portions of the conversation saidby a first participant and second portions of the conversation said by asecond participant. To associate the first and second portions with thecorresponding first or second participants, in some examples, theparticipant identifier 218 associates a first identifier with the firstportion of the audio data associated with the first participant andassociates a second identifier with the second portion of the audio dataassociated with the second participant.

To identify keywords and/or commands said during the conversation, insome examples, the comparator 220 compares words and/or phrases saidduring the conversation to reference words and/or phrases stored in thedatabase 117. To identify keywords and/or commands, the comparator 220may process the audio data collected by the sensor 112 and/or text datagenerated by the text converter 216. In examples in which a keywordand/or phrase is identified by the comparator 220, in some examples, thecreator 222 acts on the keyword and/or phrase to perform the requestedaction. For example, when the key phrase identified is “create a followup meeting on Nov. 10, 2017, at 9:00ET,” the creator 222 mayautomatically generate a meeting invite for the participants of themeeting on Nov. 10, 2017, at 9:00ET. In examples in which the creator222 receives a command to save an audio clip, the creator 222automatically saves an audio clip at the database 117. While some keyphrases that are actionable by the creator 222 are mentioned above inother examples, the creator 222 may perform any other action based on acommand received.

To enable the display 104 of the example collaboration device 102 toaccommodate any number of participants, in some examples, theparticipant identifier 218 identifies the number of participants usingthe collaboration device 102 and the participant position identifier 224identifies the relative positions of the participants relative to thecollaboration device 102 and/or relative to different portions of thedisplay 104. The participant identifier 218 and/or the participantposition identifier 224 may identify the number of participants and/orwhere those participants are positioned by processing audio data, imagedata and/or video data collected by the camera 108 and/or the sensor112. Alternatively, the participant identifier 218 and/or theparticipant position identifier 224 may identify the number ofparticipants and/or where those participants are positioned based on aninput received at the interface 116.

When the participant identifier 218 identifies that there are twoparticipants using the collaboration device 102 and the participantposition identifier 224 identifies that the first participant ispositioned on a first side of the collaboration device 102 and/or thedisplay 104 and the second participant is positioned on a second side ofthe collaboration device 102 and/or the display 104, the participantposition identifier 224 and/or the display controller 202 designatesand/or associates a first portion on the first side of the display 104with the first participant and associates a second portion on the secondside of the display 104 with the second participant. Additionally, insome such examples, the participant position identifier 224 and/or thedisplay controller 202 causes data associated with the first participantto be displayed at the first portion of the display 104 and causes dataassociated with the second participant to be displayed at the secondportion of the display 104.

To control access to the example collaboration device 102, in someexamples, the authenticator 226 implements authentication processes tocontrol access (e.g., enable access, deny access) to data stored in thedatabase 117 and/or that is otherwise accessible (e.g., data stored atthe external device 122, a remote database, network, etc.) by thecollaboration device 102. In examples in which the authenticatingprocesses includes using biometric data, in some examples, theauthenticator 226 accesses image data from the camera 108 and/or thedatabase 117 and compares the collected data to reference data from thedatabase 117 to authenticate the user. In other examples, otherauthentication processes may be used to enable a user to beauthenticated.

While an example manner of implementing the conferencer 114 of FIG. 1 isillustrated in FIG. 2, the element(s), processe(s) and/or device(s)illustrated in FIG. 2 may be combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted,eliminated and/or implemented in any other way. Further, the exampledisplay controller 202, the example audio controller 204, the examplecamera controller 206, the example projector controller 208, the examplesensor controller 210, the example language identifier 212, the exampletranslator 214, the example speech to text converter 216, the exampleparticipant identifier 218, the example comparator 220, the examplecreator 222, the example participant position identifier 224, theexample authenticator 226 and/or, more generally, the exampleconferencer 114 of FIG. 2 may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware.Thus, for example, any of the example display controller 202, theexample audio controller 204, the example camera controller 206, theexample projector controller 208, the example sensor controller 210, theexample language identifier 212, the example translator 214, the examplespeech to text converter 216, the example participant identifier 218,the example comparator 220, the example creator 222, the exampleparticipant position identifier 224, the example authenticator 226and/or, more generally, the example conferencer 114 of FIG. 2 could beimplemented by analog or digital circuit(s), logic circuits,programmable processor(s), application specific integrated circuit(s)(ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or fieldprogrammable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any of theapparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example displaycontroller 202, the example audio controller 204, the example cameracontroller 206, the example projector controller 208, the example sensorcontroller 210, the example language identifier 212, the exampletranslator 214, the example speech to text converter 216, the exampleparticipant identifier 218, the example comparator 220, the examplecreator 222, the example participant position identifier 224, theexample authenticator 226 and/or, more generally, the exampleconferencer 114 of FIG. 2 is/are hereby expressly defined to include anon-transitory computer readable storage device or storage disk such asa memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-raydisk, etc. including the software and/or firmware. Further still, theexample conferencer 114 of FIG. 1 may include element(s), process(es)and/or device(s) in addition to, or instead of, those illustrated inFIG. 2, and/or may include more than one of any or all of theillustrated elements, processes and devices.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate an example collaboration device 300 that can beused to implement the example collaboration device 102 of FIG. 1.Referring to both FIGS. 3 and 4, the collaboration device 300 has anelongate body and/or housing 301 and a triangular cross sectionincluding a first surface 302, a second surface 304, a third surface 306and first and second ends 308, 310. In this example, the third surface306 forms a base of the collaboration device 300 and a vertex and/orcoupling between the first and second surfaces 302, 304 forms an end ofthe collaboration device 300 that is smaller and/or narrower (e.g., hereimplemented as an edge and/or a rounded end) than the third surface 306.In the illustrated example, the first surface 302 includes a firstdisplay 312 and the second surface 304 includes a second display 314that is the same or similar to the first display 312. The first and/orsecond displays 312, 314 can be used to implement the display 104 ofFIG. 1. The collaboration device 300 may be made in any color and/orhave any surface texturing. For example, the first, second and/or thirdsurfaces 302, 304, 306 may be black, white and/or wood grain.

To enable audio to be emitted from the example collaboration device 300,in some examples, a first speaker 316 is disposed adjacent the first end308 of the collaboration device 300 and a second speaker 318 is disposedadjacent the second end 310 of the collaboration device 300. In someexamples, the second speaker 318 is the same or similar to the firstspeaker 316. The first and/or second speakers 316, 318 can be used toimplement the example speaker 106 of FIG. 1.

To enable image and/or video data to be obtained by the collaborationdevice 300, in some examples, a first camera 320 is carried on the firstsurface 302 of the collaboration device 300 and a second camera 322 iscarried on the second surface 304 of the collaboration device 300. Insome examples, the second camera 322 is the same or similar to the firstcamera 320. The first and/or second cameras 320, 322 can be used toimplement the example camera 108 of FIG. 1.

In the illustrated example, the first display 312 includes an examplefirst panel 324 identifying meeting topics and an example second panel326 including a questions queue that identifies participants of themeeting that would like to a pose a question. Additionally, in theillustrated example, the first display 312 includes a third panel 327including a first tab 328, a second tab 330 and a third tab 332. In thisexample, the first tab 328 is associated with “live feed,” the secondtab 330 is associated with “by person” and the third tab 332 isassociated with “by topic.” In some examples, selecting the first tab328 enables a live feed of the conversation taking place during themeeting to be displayed and separated by participant, selecting thesecond tab 330 enables the conversation to be filtered and/or parsed byperson and selecting the third tab 332 enables the conversation to befiltered and/or parsed by topic. As shown in FIG. 3, the first tab 228has been selected and the live feed of the conversation is shownincluding a first participant and corresponding text 334, a secondparticipant and corresponding text 336, a third participant andcorresponding text 338 and an example flag 337 is shown adjacent thefirst participant and first corresponding text 334. In some examples,the flag 337 is added in response to a command received from a recipientregarding flagging the first participant and the corresponding text 334for comment.

In the illustrated example, the first display 312 includes an examplefourth panel 340 including a first graphical control element 342, asecond graphical control element 344, a third graphical control element346 and a fourth graphical control element 348. In this example, thefirst graphical control element 342 is associated with a “remember this”action, the second graphical control element 344 is associated with a“flag for comment” action, the third graphical control element 346 isassociated with a “quick summary” action and the fourth graphicalcontrol element 348 is associated with a “reminder” action. If a userselects the first, second, third and/or fourth graphical controlelements 342, 344, 346, 348, in some examples, the conferencer 114and/or the creator 222 perform the requested action.

In the illustrated example, the first display 312 includes a fifth panel350 including an image 351 of the third participant, a summary icon 352,a reminders icon 354 and a flags icon 356. In some examples, the icons352, 354, 356 are graphical control elements that are selectable toenable data associated with the selection of the first graphical controlelement 342 (e.g., “remember this” action), the second graphical controlelement 344 (e.g., “flag for comment” action), the third graphicalcontrol element 346 (e.g., “quick summary” action) and/or the fourthgraphical control element 348 (“reminder” action) to be displayed.

FIG. 5 illustrates the example collaboration device 300 disposed on atable 502 such that the first display 312 is facing an individual 504using the example collaboration device 300. FIG. 6 illustrates the firstcamera 320 facing the individual 504 to enable image and/or video dataof the individual 504 to be obtained. Thus, FIG. 6 illustrates the firstcamera 320 in a video conferencing mode. FIG. 7 illustrates the firstcamera 320 facing a document 702 to enable an image of the document 702to be obtained for digitizing. Thus, FIG. 7 illustrates the first camera320 in a document-digitizing mode.

FIGS. 8-12 illustrate different example table-top collaboration devices800, 900, 1000, 1100, 1200 having different form factors that can beused to implement the example collaboration device 102 of FIG. 1. Theexample collaboration device 800 of FIG. 8 is a triangular frustumincluding a first side 802, a second side 804, a third side 806 and anend 808. In some examples, the first, second and third sides 802, 804,806 are used to implement the example display 104 of FIG. 1 such thatthe first side 802 carries a first display, the second side 804 carriesa second display and the third side 806 carries a third display. Thus,in some such examples, the first side 802 is used to display data to thefirst participant, the second side 804 is used to display data to thesecond participant and the third side 806 is used to display data to thethird participant. In some examples, the end 808 implements the speaker106 of FIG. 1.

The example collaboration device 900 of FIG. 9 is a conical frustumincluding a conical surface 902 and an end 904. In some examples, theconical surface 902 implements the example display 104 of FIG. 1 and theend 904 implements the speaker 106 of FIG. 1. To provide differentparticipants a portion of the conical surface 902 to displaycorresponding data and/or to enable the participants to interact withthe collaboration device 900, in some examples, the participantidentifier 218 identifies the number of individuals using thecollaboration device 900 and the participant position identifier 224identifies the first participant being positioned on a first side 906 ofthe collaboration device 900 and the second participant being positionedon a second side 908 of the collaboration device 900. In some suchexamples, the participant position identifier 224 and/or the displaycontroller 202 designates and/or associates the first side 906 of theconical surface 902 with the first participant and associates the secondside 908 of the conical surface 902 with the second participant.Additionally, in some such examples, the participant position identifier224 and/or the display controller 202 causes data associated with thefirst participant to be displayed at the first side 906 via a firstwindow or section and causes data associated with the second participantto be displayed at the second side 908 via a second window or section.Alternatively, when the participant identifier 218 and/or theparticipant position identifier 224 identifies a third participant on athird side 910 of the conical surface 902, in some examples, theparticipant position identifier 224 and/or the display controller 202causes data associated with the first participant to be displayed at thefirst side 906, causes data associated with the second participant to bedisplayed at the second side 908 and causes data associated with thethird participant to be displayed at the third side 910.

The example collaboration device 1000 of FIG. 10 is a square frustumincluding a first side 1002, a second side 1004, a third side 1006, afourth side 1008 and an end 1010. In some examples, the first, second,third and/or fourth sides 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008 are used to implementthe example display 104 of FIG. 1. Thus, in some such examples, thefirst side 1002 is used to display data to the first participant, thesecond side 1004 is used to display data to the second participant, thethird side 1006 is used to display data to the third participant and thefourth side 1008 is used to display data to the fourth participant. Insome examples, the end 1010 implements the speaker 106 of FIG. 1.

The example collaboration device 1100 of FIG. 11 is a spherical capincluding a spherical surface 1102 and an end 1104. In some examples,the spherical surface 1102 implements the example display 104 of FIG. 1and the end 1104 implements the speaker 106 of FIG. 1. In some examplesin which the participant identifier 218 and/or the participant positionidentifier 224 identifies six individuals using the examplecollaboration device 1100, the participant position identifier 224and/or the display controller 202 separates the spherical surface 1102into first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth sub-displays 1106,1108, 1110, 1112, 1114, 1116 such that data associated with thecorresponding participants can be displayed via the correspondingsub-display 1106, 1108, 1110, 1112, 1114, 1116. In some examples whenthe participant identifier 218 and/or the participant positionidentifier 224 identifies three participants, the participant positionidentifier 218 and/or the display controller 202 may separate thespherical surface 1102 into three displays instead. In other words, thecollaboration device 1100 can dynamically change the number and/or thesize of the windows and/or sub displays provided to accommodate anynumber of participants. The example collaboration device 1200 of FIG. 12is another conical frustum including a conical surface 1202 and an end1204. In some examples, the conical surface 1202 implements the exampledisplay 104 of FIG. 1 and the end 1204 implements the speaker 106 ofFIG. 1.

A flowchart representative of example machine readable instructions forimplementing the conferencer 114 of FIG. 2 is shown in FIGS. 13 and 14.In this example, the machine readable instructions comprise a programfor execution by a processor such as the processor 1512 shown in theexample processor platform 1500 discussed below in connection with FIG.15. The program may be embodied in software stored on a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a harddrive, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a Blu-ray disk, or a memoryassociated with the processor 1512, but the entire program and/or partsthereof could alternatively be executed by a device other than theprocessor 1512 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware.Further, although the example program is described with reference to theflowchart illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14, many other methods ofimplementing the example conferencer 114 may alternatively be used. Forexample, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/orsome of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined.Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks may beimplemented by hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/or integratedanalog and/or digital circuitry, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA),an Application Specific Integrated circuit (ASIC), a comparator, anoperational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.) structured toperform the corresponding operation without executing software orfirmware.

As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 13 and 14 may beimplemented using coded instructions (e.g., computer and/or machinereadable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/ormachine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, aread-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, arandom-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk inwhich information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended timeperiods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering,and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the termnon-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to includeany type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and toexclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media.“Including” and “comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are usedherein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim lists anythingfollowing any form of “include” or “comprise” (e.g., comprises,includes, comprising, including, etc.), it is to be understood thatadditional elements, terms, etc. may be present without falling outsidethe scope of the corresponding claim. As used herein, when the phrase“at least” is used as the transition term in a preamble of a claim, itis open-ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” and“including” are open ended.

The program of FIG. 13 begins at block 1302 with the participantidentifier 218 identifying a first participant and a second participantusing the collaboration device 102. In some examples, the participantidentifier 218 identifies the number of participants by processing audiodata, image data and/or video data and/or by accessing an input from theparticipant(s) at the interface 116 of the collaboration device 102. Inresponse to identifying the first and second participants using thecollaboration device 102, the display controller 202 selectivelyassociates a first portion of the display 104 with the first participantand a second portion of the display 104 with the second participant(block 1304). In some examples, the first portion of the display 104corresponds to the first display 312 and the second portion of thedisplay 104 corresponds to the second display 314, where the first andsecond displays 312, 314 are viewable from different sides of thecollaboration device 300. The display controller 202 causes first dataassociated with the first participant to be displayed at the firstportion of the display 104 and second data associated with the secondparticipant to be displayed at the second portion of the display 104(block 1306).

The program of FIG. 14 begins at block 1402 with the participantidentifier 218 identifying a first participant and a second participantusing the collaboration device 102. The authenticator 226 processesaudio data and/or image data to verify an identity of the firstparticipant and to verify an identity of the second participant (block1404). In response to identifying the first and second participantsusing the collaboration device 102, the display controller 202selectively associates a first portion of the display 104 with the firstparticipant and a second portion of the display 104 with the secondparticipant (block 1406).

The language identifier 212 processes the audio data to identify a firstlanguage being spoken by the first participant and a second languagebeing spoken by the second participant (block 1408). In response toidentifying the first and second languages being spoken, the languageidentifier 212 assigns a first identifier to first language portions ofthe audio data associated with the first language and assigns a secondidentifier to second language portions of the audio data associated withthe second language (block 1410).

The speech to text converter 216 performs a speech to text conversion ofthe first language portions of the audio data and performs a speech totext conversion of the second language portions of the audio data (block1412). The translator 214 translates the first language portions to thesecond language and translates the second language portions to the firstlanguage (block 1414). The display controller 202 causes first dataassociated with the first participant to be displayed at the firstportion of the display 104 and second data associated with the secondparticipant to be displayed at the second portion of the display 104(block 1416). In some examples, the first portion of the display 104corresponds to the first sub display 1106 and the second portion of thedisplay 104 corresponds to the second sub display 1108, where the firstand second sub displays 1106, 1108 are viewable from different sides ofthe collaboration device 1100.

At block 1418, the creator 222 determines whether a command has beenreceived. In some examples, the command is a summary command receivedfrom the first participant or the second participant at thecollaboration device 102. In some examples, the command is a flag forcomment command received from one of the first participant or the secondparticipant at the collaboration device 102. In examples in which acommand has been received, the creator 222 performs the identifiedcommand (block 1420). For example, in response to receiving a summarycommand, the creator 222 parses the audio data and/or text data andgenerates a summary from the parsed data. In response to receiving aflag for comment command, in some examples, the creator 222 generatingan icon and/or the flag 337 adjacent corresponding text associated withflagging the corresponding text for comment.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1500 capableof executing the instructions of FIGS. 13 and 14 to implement theconferencer 114 of FIG. 2. The processor platform 1500 can be, forexample, a server, a personal computer, a mobile device (e.g., a cellphone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a personal digitalassistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, or any other type of computingdevice.

The processor platform 1500 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 1512. The processor 1512 of the illustrated example ishardware. For example, the processor 1512 can be implemented byintegrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllers fromany desired family or manufacturer. The hardware processor may be asemiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. In this example, theprocessor 1512 implements the example display controller 202, theexample audio controller 204, the example camera controller 206, theexample projector controller 208, the example sensor controller 210, theexample language identifier 212, the example translator 214, the examplespeech to text converter 216, the example participant identifier 218,the example comparator 220, the example creator 222, the exampleparticipant position identifier 224, the example authenticator 226 andthe example conferencer 114.

The processor 1512 of the illustrated example includes a local memory1513 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1512 of the illustrated example isin communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1514 anda non-volatile memory 1516 via a bus 1518. The volatile memory 1514 maybe implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM),Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory(RDRAM) and/or any other type of random access memory device. Thenon-volatile memory 1516 may be implemented by flash memory and/or anyother desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1514,1516 is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 1500 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 1520. The interface circuit 1520 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, auniversal serial bus (USB), and/or a PCI express interface.

In the illustrated example, input devices 1522 are connected to theinterface circuit 1520. The input device(s) 1522 permit(s) a user toenter data and/or commands into the processor 1512. The input device(s)can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, a microphone, acamera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, atrack-pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voice recognition system.

Output devices 1524 are also connected to the interface circuit 1520 ofthe illustrated example. The output devices 1524 can be implemented, forexample, by display devices (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), anorganic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display, a cathoderay tube display (CRT), a touchscreen, a tactile output device, aprinter and/or speakers). The interface circuit 1520 of the illustratedexample, thus, includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chipand/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 1520 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data withexternal machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network1526 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), atelephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

The processor platform 1500 of the illustrated example also includesmass storage devices 1528 for storing software and/or data. Examples ofsuch mass storage devices 1528 include floppy disk drives, hard drivedisks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAID systems, anddigital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

The coded instructions 1532 of FIGS. 13 and 14 may be stored in the massstorage device 1528, in the volatile memory 1514, in the non-volatilememory 1516, and/or on a removable tangible computer readable storagemedium such as a CD or DVD.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that example methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed relating toconferencing devices. In some examples, the collaboration devicesinclude displays that are dynamically configurable to provide customizedwindows for each participant of the meeting and/or each group ofparticipants of the meeting. For example, when one participant is usingthe collaboration device, the entire display may be used to display datato the one participant and when two participants are using thecollaboration device, the display may be separated into a first subdisplay that provides data to the first participant and a second subdisplay that provides data to the second participant. In some examples,the example collaboration devices enable data to be accessible, sharableand/or displayable. In some examples, the example collaboration devicesinclude displays to enable one participant to view data in a firstlanguage and to enable a second participant to view data in a secondlanguage.

An example table-top collaboration device includes a housing; a sensorto obtain audio data, image data, or video data; a display including afirst portion and a second portion, the first portion viewable from afirst side of the device and the second portion viewable from a secondside of the device; and a processor to facilitate a collaborationsession between participants, the processor to use the audio data, theimage data, or the video data during the collaboration session.

In some examples, the housing has a triangular cross-section including afirst surface and a second surface, the first surface carrying the firstportion of the display, the second surface carrying the second portionof the display. In some examples, the housing includes an end that isstructured to enable audio to be emitted from the housing. In someexamples, the table-top collaboration device includes a speaker carriedby the housing to emit the audio. In some examples, the sensor includesa camera carried by the housing, the camera to capture at least one ofthe image data or the video data.

An example tangible computer-readable medium comprising instructionsthat, when executed, cause a processor to, at least: identify a firstparticipant and a second participant using a table-top collaborationdevice; in response to identifying the first and second participantsusing the table-top collaboration device, selectively associate a firstportion of a display of the table-top collaboration device with thefirst participant and selectively associate a second portion of thedisplay with the second participant, the first portion viewable from afirst side of the table-top collaboration device and the second portionviewable from a second side of the table-top collaboration device; andcause first data associated with the first participant to be displayedat the first portion of the display and second data associated with thesecond participant to be displayed at the second portion of the display.In some examples, the instructions, when executed, further cause theprocessor to: process audio data to identify a first language beingspoken by the first participant and a second language being spoken bythe second participant; in response to identifying the first and secondlanguages being spoken, assign a first identifier to first languageportions of the audio data associated with the first language and asecond identifier to second language portions of the audio dataassociated with the second language; translate the first languageportions to the second language and translate the second languageportions to the first language; and display the second language portionsin the first language at the first portion of the display and displaythe first language portions in the second language at the second portionof the display.

An example method includes identifying, by executing an instruction withat least one processor, a first participant and a second participantusing a table-top collaboration device; in response to identifying thefirst and second participants using the table-top collaboration device,selectively associating, by executing an instruction with at least oneprocessor, a first portion of a display of the table-top collaborationdevice with the first participant and a second portion of the displaywith the second participant, the first portion viewable from a firstside of the table-top collaboration device and the second portionviewable from a second side of the table-top collaboration device; andcausing, by executing an instruction with at least one processor, firstdata associated with the first participant to be displayed at the firstportion of the display and second data associated with the secondparticipant to be displayed at the second portion of the display.

In some examples, the includes processing audio data to identify a firstlanguage being spoken by the first participant and a second languagebeing spoken by the second participant, in response to identifying thefirst and second languages being spoken, assigning a first identifier tofirst language portions of the audio data associated with the firstlanguage and a second identifier to second language portions of theaudio data associated with the second language. In some examples, themethod includes translating the first language portions to the secondlanguage and translating the second language portions to the firstlanguage and enabling the second language portions to be receivable bythe first participant in the first language and the first languageportions to be receivable by the second participant in the secondlanguage.

In some examples, the enabling of the second language portions to bereceivable by the first participant in the first language and the firstlanguage portions to be receivable by the second participant in thesecond language includes: performing a speech to text conversion of thefirst language portions of the audio data and the second languageportions of the audio data and translating the first language portionsto the second language and translating the second language portions tothe first language; and displaying the second language portions in thefirst language at the first portion of the display and displaying thefirst language portions in the second language at the second portion ofthe display.

In some examples, the method includes processing audio data or imagedata to verify an identity of the first participant and to verify anidentity of the second participant. In some examples, the audio data isobtained via a sensor of the table-top collaboration device and theimage data is obtained via a camera of the table-top collaborationdevice. In some examples, the method includes accessing a summarycommand received from one of the first participant or the secondparticipant at the table-top collaboration device, in response toaccessing the summary command, parsing audio data or text data andgenerating a summary from the parsed data. In some examples, the methodincludes performing a speech to text conversion of audio data anddisplaying text via the first portion of the display, further includingaccessing a flag for comment command received from one of the firstparticipant or the second participant at the table-top collaborationdevice, in response to accessing the flag for comment command,generating an icon adjacent corresponding text associated with flaggingthe corresponding text for comment.

An example table-top collaboration device including a housing; a sensorto obtain audio data, image data, or video data; a display including afirst portion and a second portion, the first portion viewable from afirst side of the device and not from a second side of the device andthe second portion viewable from the second side of the device and notviewable from the first side of the device; and a processor tofacilitate a collaboration session between participants, the processorto use the audio data, the image data, or the video data during thecollaboration session.

An example table-top collaboration device includes a housing; a sensorto obtain audio data, image data, or video data; a display including afirst portion and a second portion, the first and second portionsforming two sides of a convex polygon or a convex surface, the firstportion viewable from a first side of the device and the second portionviewable from a second side of the device; and a processor to facilitatea collaboration session between participants, the processor to use theaudio data, the image data, or the video data during the collaborationsession.

An example table-top collaboration device includes a housing; a sensorto obtain audio data, image data, or video data; a display including afirst portion and a second portion, the first and second portionsforming two sides of a convex polygon, the first portion viewable from afirst side of the device and the second portion viewable from a secondside of the device; and a processor to facilitate a collaborationsession between participants, the processor to use the audio data, theimage data, or the video data during the collaboration session.

An example table-top collaboration device including a housing includinga base, a first side, and a second side, the base extending between thefirst side and the second side, the base structured to rest on a surfaceduring a collaboration session, the first side facing a differentdirection than the second side, the first side positioned to be viewablewhen the base rests on the surface, the second side positioned to beviewable when the base rests on the surface; a sensor to obtain audiodata, image data, or video data; a first display and a second display,the first display carried by the first side of the housing, the firstdisplay being viewable when the base rests on the surface, the seconddisplay carried by the second side of the housing, the second displaybeing viewable when the base rests on the surface; and a processor tofacilitate the collaboration session, the processor to use the audiodata, the image data, or the video data during the collaborationsession.

Example 1

An example table-top collaboration device, includes a housing includinga base, an end, a first side, and a second side, the end opposite thebase and being smaller than the base, the base extending between thefirst side and the second side, the base structured to rest on a surfaceduring a collaboration session, the first side facing a differentdirection than the second side, the first side positioned to be viewablewhen the base rests on the surface, the second side positioned to beviewable when the base rests on the surface; a sensor to obtain audiodata, image data, or video data; a first display and a second display,the first display carried by the first side of the housing, the firstdisplay being viewable when the base rests on the surface, the seconddisplay carried by the second side of the housing, the second displaybeing viewable when the base rests on the surface; and a processor tofacilitate the collaboration session, the processor to use the audiodata, the image data, or the video data during the collaborationsession.

Example 2

In Example 1 or other examples, the housing has a triangularcross-section including the first side and the second end.

Example 3

In Examples 1 or 2 or other examples, the housing includes a second endthat is structured to enable audio to be emitted from the housing.

Example 4

In Example 3 or other examples, the table-top collaboration includes aspeaker carried by the housing to emit the audio.

Example 5

In Examples 3 or 4 or other examples, the sensor includes a cameracarried by the housing, the camera to capture at least one of the imagedata or the video data.

Example 6

An example tangible computer-readable medium comprising instructionsthat, when executed, cause a processor to, at least: identify a firstparticipant and a second participant using a table-top collaborationdevice; in response to identifying the first and second participantsusing the table-top collaboration device, selectively associate a firstportion of a display of the table-top collaboration device with thefirst participant and selectively associate a second portion of thedisplay with the second participant, the first and second portionsforming a convex surface or two sides of a convex polygon; and causefirst data associated with the first participant to be displayed at thefirst portion of the display and second data associated with the secondparticipant to be displayed at the second portion of the display.

Example 7

In Example 6 or other examples, the instructions, when executed, furthercause the processor to: process audio data to identify a first languagebeing spoken by the first participant and a second language being spokenby the second participant; in response to identifying the first andsecond languages being spoken, assign a first identifier to firstlanguage portions of the audio data associated with the first languageand a second identifier to second language portions of the audio dataassociated with the second language; translate the first languageportions to the second language and translate the second languageportions to the first language; and display the second language portionsin the first language at the first portion of the display and displaythe first language portions in the second language at the second portionof the display.

Example 8

An example method, includes identifying, by executing an instructionwith at least one processor, a first participant and a secondparticipant using a table-top collaboration device; in response toidentifying the first and second participants using the table-topcollaboration device, selectively associating, by executing aninstruction with at least one processor, a first portion of a display ofthe table-top collaboration device with the first participant and asecond portion of the display with the second participant, the first andsecond portions forming a convex surface or two sides of a convexpolygon; and causing, by executing an instruction with at least oneprocessor, first data associated with the first participant to bedisplayed at the first portion of the display and second data associatedwith the second participant to be displayed at the second portion of thedisplay.

Example 9

In Example 8 or other examples, the method includes processing audiodata to identify a first language being spoken by the first participantand a second language being spoken by the second participant, inresponse to identifying the first and second languages being spoken,assigning a first identifier to first language portions of the audiodata associated with the first language and a second identifier tosecond language portions of the audio data associated with the secondlanguage.

Example 10

In Example 9 or other examples, the method includes translating thefirst language portions to the second language and translating thesecond language portions to the first language and enabling the secondlanguage portions to be receivable by the first participant in the firstlanguage and the first language portions to be receivable by the secondparticipant in the second language.

Example 11

In Example 10 or other examples, the enabling of the second languageportions to be receivable by the first participant in the first languageand the first language portions to be receivable by the secondparticipant in the second language includes: performing a speech to textconversion of the first language portions of the audio data and thesecond language portions of the audio data and translating the firstlanguage portions to the second language and translating the secondlanguage portions to the first language; and displaying the secondlanguage portions in the first language at the first portion of thedisplay and displaying the first language portions in the secondlanguage at the second portion of the display.

Example 12

In Examples 8, 9, 10, 11 or other examples, the method includesprocessing audio data or image data to verify an identity of the firstparticipant and to verify an identity of the second participant.

Example 13

In Example 12 or other examples, the audio data is obtained via a sensorof the table-top collaboration device and the image data is obtained viaa camera of the table-top collaboration device.

Example 14

In Examples 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 or other examples, the method includesaccessing a summary command received from one of the first participantor the second participant at the table-top collaboration device, inresponse to accessing the summary command, parsing audio data or textdata and generating a summary from the parsed data.

Example 15

In Examples 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 or other examples, the includesperforming a speech to text conversion of audio data and displaying textvia the first portion of the display, further including accessing a flagfor comment command received from one of the first participant or thesecond participant at the table-top collaboration device, in response toaccessing the flag for comment command, generating an icon adjacentcorresponding text associated with flagging the corresponding text forcomment.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe claims of this patent.

What is claimed is:
 1. A table-top collaboration device, comprising: ahousing including a base, an end, a first side, and a second side, theend opposite the base and being smaller than the base, the baseextending between the first side and the second side, the basestructured to rest on a surface during a collaboration session, thefirst side facing a different direction than the second side, the firstside positioned to be viewable when the base rests on the surface, thesecond side positioned to be viewable when the base rests on thesurface; a sensor to obtain audio data, image data, or video data; afirst display and a second display, the first display carried by thefirst side of the housing, the first display being viewable when thebase rests on the surface, the second display carried by the second sideof the housing, the second display being viewable when the base rests onthe surface; and a processor to facilitate the collaboration session,the processor to: use the audio data, the image data, or the video dataduring the collaboration session; access a flag for comment commandreceived from a participant of the collaboration session; and inresponse to accessing the flag for comment command, generating an iconadjacent corresponding text associated with flagging the correspondingtext for comment.
 2. The table-top collaboration device of claim 1,wherein the housing has a triangular cross-section including the firstside and the second end.
 3. The table-top collaboration device of claim1, wherein the housing includes a second end that is structured toenable audio to be emitted from the housing.
 4. The table-topcollaboration device of claim 3, further including a speaker carried bythe housing to emit the audio.
 5. The table-top collaboration device ofclaim 3, wherein the sensor includes a camera carried by the housing,the camera to capture at least one of the image data or the video data.6. A tangible computer-readable medium comprising instructions that,when executed, cause a processor to, at least: identify a firstparticipant and a second participant using a table-top collaborationdevice; in response to identifying the first and second participantsusing the table-top collaboration device, selectively associate a firstportion of a display of the table-top collaboration device with thefirst participant and selectively associate a second portion of thedisplay with the second participant, the first and second portionsforming a convex surface or two sides of a convex polygon; cause firstdata associated with the first participant to be displayed at the firstportion of the display and second data associated with the secondparticipant to be displayed at the second portion of the display; andaccess a flag for comment command received from the first participant orthe second participant at the table-top collaboration device, and inresponse to accessing the flag for comment command, generating an iconadjacent corresponding text associated with flagging the correspondingtext for comment.
 7. The computer-readable medium as defined in claim 6,wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to:process audio data to identify a first language being spoken by thefirst participant and a second language being spoken by the secondparticipant; in response to identifying the first and second languagesbeing spoken, assign a first identifier to first language portions ofthe audio data associated with the first language and a secondidentifier to second language portions of the audio data associated withthe second language; translate the first language portions to the secondlanguage and translate the second language portions to the firstlanguage; and display the second language portions in the first languageat the first portion of the display and display the first languageportions in the second language at the second portion of the display. 8.A method comprising: identifying, by executing an instruction with atleast one processor, a first participant and a second participant usinga table-top collaboration device; in response to identifying the firstand second participants using the table-top collaboration device,selectively associating, by executing an instruction with at least oneprocessor, a first portion of a display of the table-top collaborationdevice with the first participant and a second portion of the displaywith the second participant, the first and second portions forming aconvex surface or two sides of a convex polygon; causing, by executingan instruction with at least one processor, first data associated withthe first participant to be displayed at the first portion of thedisplay and second data associated with the second participant to bedisplayed at the second portion of the display; performing a speech totext conversion of audio data and displaying text via the first portionof the display, accessing a flag for comment command received from oneof the first participant or the second participant at the table-topcollaboration device; in response to accessing the flag for commentcommand, generating an icon adjacent corresponding text associated withflagging the corresponding text for comment.
 9. The method of claim 8,further including processing audio data to identify a first languagebeing spoken by the first participant and a second language being spokenby the second participant, in response to identifying the first andsecond languages being spoken, assigning a first identifier to firstlanguage portions of the audio data associated with the first languageand a second identifier to second language portions of the audio dataassociated with the second language.
 10. The method of claim 9, furtherincluding translating the first language portions to the second languageand translating the second language portions to the first language andenabling the second language portions to be receivable by the firstparticipant in the first language and the first language portions to bereceivable by the second participant in the second language.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the enabling of the second language portionsto be receivable by the first participant in the first language and thefirst language portions to be receivable by the second participant inthe second language includes: performing a speech to text conversion ofthe first language portions of the audio data and the second languageportions of the audio data and translating the first language portionsto the second language and translating the second language portions tothe first language; and displaying the second language portions in thefirst language at the first portion of the display and displaying thefirst language portions in the second language at the second portion ofthe display.
 12. The method of claim 8, further including processingaudio data or image data to verify an identity of the first participantand to verify an identity of the second participant.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the audio data is obtained via a sensor of thetable-top collaboration device and the image data is obtained via acamera of the table-top collaboration device.
 14. The method of claim 8,further including accessing a summary command received from one of thefirst participant or the second participant at the table-topcollaboration device, in response to accessing the summary command,parsing audio data or text data and generating a summary from the parseddata.
 15. The method of claim 8 wherein the displayed text that isflagged for comment is a result of performing the speech to textconversion of audio data.